When Amazon first launched the Echo back in 2014, it created a whole new product category — the smart speaker. At the time it seemed a bit weird to talk to a speaker, but little did we know that in a few years other major tech companies would be investing millions into their take on the smart speaker — including Google with the Google Home, and now Apple with the HomePod.

For the past few years, deciding on a smart speaker has meant deciding between Google Home or the Amazon Echo, but new for 2018 is Apple’s HomePod, which is emerging as a pretty strong option too. But which one is best for your situation?

Google Assistant vs Amazon Alexa vs Apple Siri

Before diving into the capabilities of each device, its important to consider the software that they run. The Google Home is basically a shiny case for Google Assistant, Google’s digital assistant that can also be found on its phones, and more recently some of its smart home devices. The same is true for the Amazon Echo, which houses Alexa, Amazon’s assistant. And, last but not least, Apple’s Siri is the digital assistant on the new HomePod.

All of the assistants are more than capable, but there are advantages to choosing one over the other. For starters, if you own an Android phone, Google Assistant is the same across your devices — and assuming you’re logged into your account on your different devices, that means it’ll remember your preferences, be able to access the same music and playlists, and control the same smart home devices. That can be pretty darn helpful. Google Assistant also leverages Google’s search expertise — it can answer questions about all kinds of topics, thanks largely to Google’s Knowledge graph.

Alexa, however, still has a longer list of “skills” than Google Assistant. That’s to say, it just connects with more devices and services, meaning there’s a wider range of things you can do with it. The Google version of that is “Actions,” and while Google is adding more Actions every day, there still aren’t as many as what’s available on the Amazon Echo.

Apple’s Siri as arguably the first smart assistant on the block, but many consider that it has slipped in quality. That doesn’t mean that it’s not a helpful assistant — it is. But considering the fact that it’s so late out of the gate, and the fact that Apple is much more restrictive in allowing third-party integrations with Siri, you won’t find as many skills as on the other two devices. Siri can, however, still control HomeKit-connected devices, order an Uber, and so on. Siri will likely get a whole lot better in the near future considering the renewed emphasis tech companies have on home assistants.

So which is better? Well, put bluntly, if you’re an Android user, you’re definitely better off sticking with Google’s ecosystem. Those that are firmly in Apple’s camp with an iPhone, Apple TV, and HomeKit-enabled devices will get better use from the HomePod. Those with a foot in both camps, or who simply want the most compatible system and are Amazon Prime members, should go for Amazon’s Alexa.

Smart home compatibility

Perhaps the main reason to buy a smart speaker is for better smart home compatibility. There are a ton of compatible devices out there for Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Apple HomePod, and most of the big companies develop compatibility for all three. Still, not every device is compatible with them all — and the ones that aren’t might be important to you.

First, the devices that are compatible with all three ecosystems. Those include the main ones — you’ll get smart lighting with Philips Hue and LIFX, Belkin’s WeMo range of switches and devices (though only with the new WeMo Bridge), August’s Smart Lock, extended smart home support through Samsung SmartThings, and so on.

Then there are the devices that are only supported by one or two systems, but not all three. One particular standout there is the Nest range of products, which includes thermostats, security cameras, and so on. Nest is only compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. There’s also Samsung SmartThings, which works with Google Assistant and Alexa, once again.

There are also plenty of devices, and standards, only supported by one system, but that’s largely down to the companies’ own devices. For example, you can’t use the Amazon Fire TV with the Google Home, you can’t use Google’s Casting technology with the Amazon Echo, and you can’t use Apple’s AirPlay with either of the other two.

Safe to say, if you have specific smart home devices that you want to use with the Google Home, Amazon Echo, or Apple HomePod, we recommend looking up compatibility first. Chances are, it’ll work just fine — but why take a chance in the first place?

Skills and Actions

Smart speakers aren’t just good for controlling your smart home – they’re also great at interacting with the rest of your digital life. For example, you can get information about your upcoming calendar events, order an Uber or a pizza, and so on.

As mentioned, Amazon’s Alexa has a few more Skills than the Google Home has Actions or the Apple HomePod has abilities — but they all cover the main points. With the Google Home, Amazon Echo, or Apple HomePod you can do things like check weather, set times and alarms, and so on. All three speakers now also support voice calls, which can be a pretty helpful feature.

One feature that the Google Home offers over the Amazon Echo and Apple HomePod is the ability to work like an intercom. For example, if you have more than one Google Home, you can use Google to “broadcast” a message — and it will play that message to any Google Home in your house. That can be kinda handy. On the flipside, the Amazon Echo has plenty of skills not available on the Google Home or Apple HomePod – like the ability to integrate much more deeply with Amazon’s shopping services and track your packages. It can also read you books from your Kindle library.

Voice recognition

The whole point of these devices is that you can interact with them with your voice – so it makes sense that the voice recognition will need to be pretty good. Thankfully, it is good on all of these smart speakers. The majority of the time, they'll all pick up what you’re saying and understand what they need to do – provided you know how to interact with them.

Of course, Google has an advantage here because of its emphasis on search. Thanks to its massive knowledge graph, which is aimed at picking up and serving information without the need to click through, Google can answer all kinds of questions across all kinds of topics. Because of the years of work that Google has been putting into voice recognition and search, we think Google is slightly better in this category.

That’s not to say Amazon or Apple don’t do well in the category. Most of the time, the Echo does fine in understanding what people are saying, and bringing up the appropriate information. Apple is lagging behind with Siri, but we expect Siri to get seriously better in the near future.

Available devices

When you’re deciding between the Google Home, Amazon Echo, or Apple HomePod, you’re deciding between three ecosystems – not just three devices. Amazon got a head start on Google, which in turn had a head start on Apple – and as such there are more official Amazon Echo devices than Google Home or Apple HomePod devices. Google and Amazon, however, have been working hard with partners, so there are plenty of third-party Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa-enabled devices.

The main devices are the Google Home, the Amazon Echo, and the Apple HomePod. They’re the original devices, and they’re the ones you should get if you’re only looking for one and don’t need ultra high-quality audio – though all early reviews indicate the Apple HomePod offers pretty great audio quality. The Google Home comes in at $130 (currently on sale for $99), while the Amazon Echo costs $99 (currently $84.99) – though you do get slightly better audio for that extra $30. Then there’s the Apple HomePod, which steps up the price to $349.

But what if you’re looking to deck out our home with a device in each room? Only Amazon and Google offer lower cost devices that work exactly like they’re bigger siblings – only with slightly quieter and lower quality audio. The Google Home Mini and Amazon Echo Dot both come in at $49.

Then there’s the high-powered and larger devices – though they serve slightly different purposes. The Google Home Max comes in at $399, and is basically built to offer a loud, bassy, amazing audio experience. Early reviews suggest it sounds great – though it is a bit pricey. The $149 Amazon Echo Plus, on the other hand, is built to offer improved smart home control, allowing you to control Zigbee and Z-Wave devices, which aren’t otherwise supported on the Amazon Echo or Google Home without a smart home hub.

So far, Google only has those three devices — but Amazon has a few extra. For example, there’s the Amazon Echo Tap, which comes in at $129 and has a built in battery – so you can take it with you on the go and use it when it’s not plugged in. There’s also the Amazon Echo Show, which has a display for things like video calling, displaying weather information, and so on. It’s available for $229.99. Last but not least is the Amazon Echo Spot, which also has a display, but it’s smaller and less expensive. You can get it for $129.99.

As mentioned, there are plenty of third-party devices in the works, at least from Google and Amazon. Recently, for example, Google announced a partnership with Lenovo for a so-called “smart display.” It’s not available just yet, but when it is it’ll come at $199 for an 8-inch version, and $249 for a 10-inch version.

Conclusions

As mentioned, this is a decision between ecosystems — not necessarily devices. We recommend that those with Android phones who use Google Assistant stick with Google Assistant-powered devices — like the Google Home, Google Home Mini, or Google Home Max. On the other hand, those with active Amazon Prime accounts might prefer the Echo range of speakers, while iPhone users might like the integration on offer with the Apple HomePod.